Free Web NovelChapter 3: Chapter 2: So Many Bones
Li Ziyu was overjoyed, and so was the Wolf King.
When it first saw the behemoth in the darkness, it had been a little panicked. After all, such a huge thing had just charged out of the darkness—who wouldn’t panic?
But when it got a clear look at the behemoth, its nervousness turned to confusion, and that confusion turned into a pleasant surprise.
Bones!
So many bones!
A mountain of bones!
It never expected food delivery so late at night, and brought right to its mouth, no less.
’What is a pleasant surprise? *This* is a damn pleasant surprise!’
Run?
Not a chance!
Even if the Wolf King wanted to run, its pack wouldn’t have it. Finding something to eat in the Wasteland was no easy task. Now that bones were served right up to them, would they still be wolves if they didn’t eat?
Led by the Wolf King, the Desert Wolves charged in unison toward what they saw as "paradise."
The Wolf King was the largest and fastest of the pack. It was the first to reach the Mobile Fortress, where it opened its maw, clamped down on a bone, and shook its head violently, trying to tear it free.
It did succeed, but it wasn’t a bone that it tore off—it was an entire Skeleton Undead! freēwēbnovel.com
With its arm clamped in the Wolf King’s jaws, the Skeleton Undead was completely unfazed. It felt no pain, so what did a bite matter? On the contrary, it took the opportunity to lunge onto the Wolf King.
Before the Wolf King could react, Skeleton Undead swarmed down from the Mobile Fortress, leaping off one after another.
Basic Skeleton Undead were actually quite weak. They didn’t even have weapons; their attacks were limited to bludgeoning with their own bones, scratching with their claws, and biting. Fortunately, the Undead felt no pain and possessed great strength, which was the only reason they had any combat ability at all.
The Wolf King wasn’t bothered by one or two Undead, but it was helpless when eight or nine of them pounced at once. It was immediately pinned to the ground, where it let out a miserable howl.
It hoped its pack of Desert Wolves would come to its rescue, but as the Wolf King peered out through the gaps between the skeletons, it despaired.
All of the Desert Wolves were suffering the same fate—buried under layer upon layer of Skeleton Undead, enduring a frenzied assault. No matter how they struggled, it was completely useless.
Thanks to the "cooperation" of the Desert Wolves, the battle was over in less than ten minutes. Of the dozen or so Desert Wolves, not a single one escaped. All of them were turned into corpses, dragged back onto the Mobile Fortress, and taken into the Castle Main Tower.
Li Ziyu watched as the Undead dragged in the wolf corpses and piled them into a small mound, a satisfied smile spreading across his face.
’Only a Desert Wolf that charges to its death is a good Desert Wolf!’
He counted them—a total of fourteen Desert Wolves. For an environment like the Wasteland, this was a decent haul. freёwebnovel.com
Li Ziyu didn’t have to worry about how to process the corpses; the system would handle it.
[Decomposed Desert Wolf +1. Obtained: Fresh Wolf Meat x10, Skeleton x1, Damaged Wolf Pelt x1, Soul Energy x3]
[Decomposed Desert Wolf +1. Obtained...]
...
The system’s notification tone sounded. The mound of wolf corpses shrank before his eyes, decomposed by the system and converted into materials that were sent to the Warehouse.
The 14 Desert Wolves yielded 140 units of meat, 14 units of Skeletons, 14 wolf pelts (some intact, some damaged), and 45 units of Soul Energy.
Li Ziyu glanced at the system notifications and noticed the Wolf King had yielded a tiny bit more Soul Energy than the other Desert Wolves. It was a nice little bonus.
As the City Lord of the Skeleton Undead, other resources were secondary; Skeletons and Soul Energy were the most crucial, as these two resources directly determined the number of Skeleton Undead he could create.
Soul Energy was especially important. Not only was it used to create new Skeleton Undead, but it was also required to evolve them.
Li Ziyu hadn’t expected a haul so soon after nightfall. He was truly delighted.
Without hesitation, he gave the order to convert the 14 units of Skeletons into Skeleton Undead. A basic Skeleton Undead consumed 1 unit of Skeleton and 1 unit of Soul Energy.
He opened the system to check; counting the ones he just created, he now had a solid 200 Skeleton Undead.
’Not bad at all. I feel a bit safer now.’
Li Ziyu wore a look of profound gratification.
He remembered back when he first arrived in this world, he had started with only 10 Skeleton Undead. He had to live with extreme caution, terrified of running into a powerful creature that would wipe him out and end his short life.
Now, with 200 Undead at his command, he felt much more secure.
The newly created Skeleton Undead, along with the old ones, attached themselves to the Castle Main Tower, becoming part of its walls. This not only boosted the tower’s Defense Power but also allowed them to materialize quickly in a fight—this was the origin of the "Skeleton Architecture" Trait.
After taking a moment to reorganize, Li Ziyu ordered them to press onward. He needed to continue hunting for prey and, more importantly, find a way out of the Wasteland.
The Wasteland was simply too barren, with scarce prey and even scarcer resources. To grow stronger, he needed to find a new environment.
The Skeleton Fortress started up again, pushing forward with a series of grinding CLACKS. Everything fell quiet once more.
Li Ziyu sat back down in his chair and resumed eating his unfinished meal. He casually opened the system menu, tapped on the construction section, and felt a sense of helplessness as he looked at the available buildings.
A Mobile Fortress, of course, consisted of more than just the main tower. It included numerous other structures and technologies that the City Lord had to build step-by-step, raising the fortress’s Technology Level in the process.
The types of buildings and technologies were all-encompassing, from those that boosted resource gathering speed, to those that enhanced the Undead’s combat power, to those that improved the Mobile Fortress’s own abilities. A vast array of options was laid out before him.
What Li Ziyu needed most right now were buildings to increase the combat power of his Skeleton Undead and technologies to improve his fortress’s mobility. The system had options for both, but unfortunately, he lacked the resources to build any of them.
[Weapon Workshop], [Armor Workshop], [Skeleton Engine]... They were all tantalizing options that he could only drool over. This was the very reason he was so intent on leaving the Wasteland.
Without resources, let alone summoning more Skeleton Undead, even the development of the Mobile Fortress was a major issue.
A single glance was enough; looking any longer was just frustrating. Li Ziyu rubbed his temples, closed the construction page, and opened the chat channel.
This was the system function he used most enthusiastically since arriving in the Otherworld. After all, there was no entertainment to speak of here. Movies, TV shows, variety shows, online games, web novels, anime—it was pointless to even think about them. The Otherworld had none of it.
If he wanted any entertainment, his only option was to follow the chat channel. Without it, Li Ziyu had no idea how he would have made it through the last three days.
The chat channel was bustling with activity, as always. Some people were gossiping, some were sharing information, and others were posting ads for trades. The messages flew by at an incredible speed. Li Ziyu slowly scrolled through them as he ate his roasted meat.
[A Large Iron Hammer]: Selling Stone and various ores, long-term. Trading for food and drinks, especially drinks. Will take as much as you can offer.
[Grandmaster Angler]: If you’re short on food, go find a river. They’re teeming with fish. You don’t even need bait, just drop a hook. I’m honestly surprised anyone is still lacking food.
[There’s Gold in the Desert]: What’s a river?
[There’s a Monster!]: Oh sure, the river has fish. The kind that can swallow a castle in one gulp (just kidding... mostly).
...
Li Ziyu paused in his actions, his eyes narrowing slightly as he stared at the message from A Large Iron Hammer.
